One drama after another

It seems like it is one thing after another in our family. I'm sure everyone feels that way, but I just have to say that I hope that we are done with hospitals for a while.

I am guessing that Justin's body was going through withdrawals and missing all the attention of being in the hospital so he needed a trip to the ER on Thursday night.

Justin was bathing Jacob and after getting him out of the tub and handing him off to me to get ready for bed, Justin complained that his back was hurting him. Those who don't know Justin very well probably don't know that Justin is NOT a complainer. I am the complainer in the family. In fact, Justin doesn't complain to the extent that a lot of people didn't realize how sick he was when he was suffering through ulcerative colitis and needed his large intestine removed. After just another minute or so, he said, "My back is really killing me - I think I need to go soak in the tub."

After a soak in the tub, that didn't do much to help, Justin decided to take a vicodin (leftover from surgery #3) and take a rest in bed for a while. After about a half an hour, the pain was so intense that he threw up and decided to try to soak again.

We called the "Ask-a-Nurse" through our insurance, and after Justin answered a lot of questions about the type of pain, where it was located and the intensity we were instructed to go to an ER. I called my mom (because I always call my mom at times like these) and she asked if Justin could be having a problem with kidney stones. And we thought that I was the only one in our family that had kidney stones.

After being at the hospital for a couple hours, we were told that it was in fact kidney stones. We didn't get home from the hospital until 1:30am and after I put Jacob back to bed and made sure Justin was ok, I went to a 24 hour pharmacy to have the prescription for pain-killers filled (which according to Justin is way better than vicodin).

I'm guessing that most of our blog readers are lucky enough to not know how painful kidney stones are. When I went through them (twice) before I was told that the pain of kidney stones rivals the pain of labor. Having now experienced both, I would have to agree. I did think that my labor pain was worse than the pain of the kidney stones, but not by much. And I never experienced regular contractions - only the ones brought on by pitocin (and my understanding is that these are far more evil contractions than non-induced ones are).

Now we are hoping to be able to make it at least a few months with no more medical problems or sicknesses!

Swim time

Today we took Jacob swimming for the first time. It was a lot of preparation for a little bit of time at the pool, but we think we have everything we need for the summer to visit the pool (first time we have been to our neighborhood's pool). We know it is important to protect any baby's skin in the sun but Justin and I are both so fair-skinned, Jacob doesn't have a chance. We dowsed him with baby sunscreen, put a UV protectant shirt on him, he's got a hat, and his float is equipped with a shade.Jacob didn't know what to think at first. Then he got used to being in the water and seemed to be having lots of fun. Then he was done and ready to go home. All in all, we were there for about 40 minutes.

Traveling

In the past year, we have been lucky enough to have Justin here in town for 48 out of 52 weeks. That will soon be changing though since Justin may be gone part of next week, will be gone 2 weeks in July, 5 weeks in Aug/Sept and probably another week that I don't have a time frame for yet.

Whenever Justin travels (which we are very used to - the first 3 years of our marriage Justin was gone more than he was home) we try to look at the positives. He gets frequent flyer miles as well as hotel points which has saved us lots when we take our own trips. And it usually saves us money for him to be gone since we are only feeding him for 2 or 3 days out of the week and the rest of the time it is on someone else's dime.

We have now learned that we will no longer be saving money when he travels though. PWC has now said that lunches, even if you are traveling, must be paid out of your own pocket. The thought process being that if you are in town, you would be buying your own lunch, so when you are out of town you should buy your own lunch as well.

Is Justin the only one at PWC (this is a nationwide policy - not just his office) who takes his lunch to work? Going out to lunch adds up rapidly! The cost of going to lunch (not even a really nice lunch) is about equal to the cost of breakfast, lunch and dinner eaten at home. Even when we were both working full-time, we rarely went out to lunch when we were in our offices.

BOOO PWC on such a bad policy!

My sleepy boys

This afternoon this is what my two favorite men looked like.
And if you notice on the very left-hand side, Colby decided to join them.
I love my boys.

The Lowe's Saga

Part I

Back in March, Julie and I decided we wanted to get a feezer for the garage.  The freezer in our side-by-side refrigerator just wasn't cutting it.  We took a trip over to Lowe's and looked at the stand-up freezers.  We had decided against a chest freezer due the general pain of getting things out of them.

Looking at the limited selection of freezers, we tried to decide if we wanted to spring for a 20 cubic foot or settle for the 13 cubic foot.  I had a strong impression to go for the larger model, and convinced Julie that it would be the better choice in the long run.

The freezer was originally $800 but marked down to $750.  I called the dept. rep over and asked if he could take 10% off the price, to which he answered in the affirmative.  The deal of the day also included a rebate on the delivery charge of $79.  We had a $25 off coupon, which we weren't sure if they would accept due to the 10% off they were giving us.  The girl at the register said she'd try it...swiped it...and it worked, bringing us to a total of $787 after taxes, and $708 after the delivery rebate.

Julie and I left feeling we got a pretty good deal.

Part II

The next day, the freezer was delivered.  The delivery guy took it off the truck and took it out of the box.  I was getting a few more things cleared out of the way for the freezer when he called me over.  I went to the truck and he showed me that there was a scratch and a few dings on the freezer.  He said he'd call the store and see what they wanted to do.  He came back to me saying they could deliver a new freezer the next day, or we could get another 10% off of the purchaseprice.  We didn't have to deliberate long...and went for the extra 10% off.  It was going to be in the garage anyway, so what did we care if it had a few scratches.

We went into the store the next day, to get the extra 10% applied.  They credited back the original charge, and re-ran my card for the new amount...$717, and $638 after the delivery rebate.

Julie and I left feeling we got a really good deal.

Part III

My credit card statement came, saying that we owed Lowe's no money.  Looking at the detail, it said the $717 was credited back also, leaving us with a balance of $0.  I thought maybe they had some problems, and it would be resolved in the next statement.  The next statement never came, and looking it up online, again there was no balance.

I called the credit card support number, and asked them why it was credited back.  The agent said that I would need to call the store to get it straightened out.

I then called the store where we bought the freezer.  The rep that answered was not quite understanding the situation, so I had to spell it out a few times.  Once she pulled up the information on her end, she said she would look into why the balance was credited back and then find out what her administrative manager wanted to do.  I gave her my number and she said she'd call me back.

About an hour and a half later, she called back saying that she spoke to the admin mgr and that they were going to be taking off the delivery charge, and giving us another 25% off the original price.  They said the extra discount was for bringing it to their attention.  It sounded like she said it would come out to $433 to be charged to our card.

So, if after tax it comes to $433, it would be $354 after the delivery rebate.

Julie and I now feel we got an AWESOME deal.  And we don't feel guilty, which we would if we had gotten it for free by not bringing it to their attention.  Maybe honesty really IS the best policy.

Jacob on the move

Here is the evidence that Jacob really is proficient at rolling over (when he wants to).  

Jacob's new trick

This morning, Jacob mastered a new trick. For the last few weeks, when we lay him on his back on his playmat he has acted like he wants to roll over. Today - he pulled it off! I laid him down on his back and within just a minute or so, he was on his tummy. Remember from the last post that he hates his tummy time - so after a few minutes of playing on his tummy he got to be really unhappy. He is still having lots of trouble rolling from his tummy to his back, so I rolled him back onto his back.

A couple minutes later he rolled over with such force that he did a full 360 degree turn ending up on his back, next to his playmat. A minute or so later, he rolled over onto his tummy again. I was pretty impressed with how far he ended away from his mat.
Later, I laid him down for his morning "mini" nap in the small crib that he sleeps in next to our bed. It took some work, but I actually got him to sleep and ran out of the room to try to get something done. About 10 minutes later, I heard him making noises. He was talking to himself and sounding pretty happy, but I decided to poke my head in to see him and this is what I saw:Looks like his little crib in our room is too small for him to actually roll over.

So now the question is - how long do we have until he becomes mobile and we have to child-proof the house?

Celebration Week

Last week was not only my first Mother's Day (as a mom) and my 32nd birthday, but Jacob turned 5 months old last week!



Getting a picture of Jacob smiling is no easy task. When I am right in his face, he is all smiles and laughs. As soon as I move away to snap a picture, he gives me a look like "What are you doing?" I took his 5-month-old picture like a dozen times - not a smile in a single one. Maybe his 6-month picture will feature a smile.



Jacob continues to be a good sleeper at night - as long as he eats well before going to bed (which we have had some issues with off and on, which means that off and on he has been a good sleeper at night). It is getting more and more difficult to get him to nap though. I have been told by lots of people to just enjoy him and hold him so he will nap, but I would rather be able to get him to nap by himself so I can get a few things done and play with him when he is awake. Instead when he is awake he ends up playing by himself quite a bit so I can try to do some laundry, make dinner or straighten up the house.

Here is one tired baby

Overall, Jacob is still such a good baby. He likes to watch things and people and take things in. He loves playing with his Daddy. He really wants to be able sit up - but hates his tummy time. He loves to stand on our laps while we balance him. He loves to suck and chew on his hands (and get drool everywhere in the process). He loves to play with his bibs and burp clothes - far more than any of his toys. He is slowly starting to outgrow some of his 0-3 month sized clothes and starting to wear some of his 3-6 month clothes!

It is hard to believe that he is 5 months old already!

My First Mother's Day

May 10, 2008 found us at the hospital, having two embryos transferred with the hope that we would finally be able to have children. The next day was Mother's Day and I was on day 2 of strict bedrest hoping that the embryos would burrow deep and cling for dear life.

May 10, 2009 I have a beautiful baby boy who will be 5 months old later this week.

We have been celebrating basically all weekend (and celebrating will continue into the week). Justin took me to Carino's for lunch on Friday where "Mom's meal" was free. We hadn't been out to eat for over a month (not even fast food) so it was great to go out - especially since the food was delicious and mine was free!

Saturday we went up to Justin's grandparents' to celebrate Mother's Day and everyone got to ooh and aah over our beautiful little boy. Here are my two men together:


Sunday morning Justin and Jacob gave me my Mother's Day/Birthday present:

They aren't too big (afterall - we haven't won the lottery yet) but they are perfect. :)

After church on Sunday we went back up to Justin's grandparents' to celebrate the birthdays for this week - here's Justin's grandpa with his birthday cake, and mine after I blew out my candles.



Life is good.

Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy,

I know that you just left earlier today, but Mommy and I miss you already. It just isn't the same when Mommy puts me to bed without you - she isn't as good at the sound effects while she changes me into my pajamas.

Hopefully I will be asleep when you get home on Thursday night, but I will be excited to see you on Friday.

We did a little reading this evening before bed and I am excited for you to read to me before bed on Friday night.

Love,
Jacob

PS - Colby misses you too, but he has been very good so far today and not as jealous as he usually is. I think he is sad that you had to go out of town.